BY ANTONY TEOFILO | Put your mind at ease. The Matrix has been Reloaded.

The upgrade was worth the wait.

Its pretty clear that Larry and Andy Wachowski have carte blanche as far as Warner Brothers and executive producer Joel Silver are concerned. For once, the staunch support of a major studio has benefited a movie franchise, and created a better, stronger film than that which preceded it.

Fascinating and thrilling, Reloaded is NOT hopelessly vague or a silly collection of fights, stunts, and explosions strung together to cash in on a franchises previous success (MIB II, anyone?). Answers to many questions that have been teasing fans minds for the last five years are made in clear terms, though as one might imagine, the answers simply raise new, more fascinating questions. While the stunning Wo Ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix) returns to choreograph unbelievable hand-to-hand combat and epic chase scenes that deliver a ton of bang for your popcorn movie buck, the movie also elaborates at some length on the heavy doses of philosophy and religious symbolism touched on in The Matrix. Tons of new characters are introduced, some of them coming from brand new religious pantheons that have not been discussed in the story to this point. The explanations of certain characters origins and purposes will please hardcore fans of the first movie, while not being to remote for the casual viewer to understand.

In addition to the cutting edge effects innovations that are rampant throughout the flick, significant time is given to examine the burgeoning love affair between Trinity and Neo. In doing so, the Wachowskis introduce a sensuality and sexiness that has not been present in the story so far. Instead of focusing strictly on the battle, audiences get to see who the heroes are when they go homeand when they take off their clothes. In the spotlight as well is Neos internal struggle with his role as a high tech messiah. A great deal of time is spent examining the fragility of the human condition, and what happens to even the strongest of souls when their faith is tested beyond its breaking point.

Bottom line: Its flat-out cool to see an electrifying action flick that finally has a serious brain and sensuous heart to go along with its massive muscles.

One suggestion, however: your enjoyment of the movie can be amplified a bit if you take the time and watch The Animatrix short films over at Theanimatrix.com. There are a few plot points in the movie that are clearer having seen the shorts offered on the website, as well as The Last Flight of the Osiris, a short film that aired in front of Dreamcatcher in theaters. If youre lucky enough to get your hands on the entire Animatrix DVD that hits stores soon, you may want to watch it before you see the filmespecially a short called The Kid that ties in directly with the feature film.

So, with all the heavy philosophy and religion and god complexes and peeks into the deep, dark, human psyche, at the end of the day, what does it all mean? Everyones being cagey.

The Wachowski Brothers are nowhere to be found to offer definitive answers to the questions they raise. Studio brass report that theyre too busy attempting to finish The Matrix: Revolutions to worry about publicizing Reloaded. The stars of the movie will tell you that, while the Wachowskis have definite ideas multitude of themes the movie examines, the actors are generally left to their own interpretations of their characters motivations and actions. Though no one will admit it, its likely that the Wachowskis simply dont want to answer the myriad quandaries the movie raises in the mind of the viewer about life, meaning, destiny, purpose, spirituality, love, technology, etc. etc., ad infinitum. And its not only because the Wachowski Brothers dont like giving interviews. As filmmakers theyre anxious to see their audiences to make up their own minds about what they see.

And its not over yet. Not by a long shot. Fans wont even have to wait that long for the final fix in the saga.

The Matrix: Revolutions is scheduled to hit theaters this November, when the Wachowskis aim to finish the trilogy on a firm, final note. Will the saga really stop? Says Executive Producer Joel Silver, Well, the boys want to end it there. Weve talked about some other thingscartoons, a huge interactive environment for the internet in a few years that takes place in the world of the Matrix and then he trails off.

But theres a twinkle in his eye. One gets the idea that the answer, right now, to the question, Will there be a fourth Matrix movie? is no. But one day, were Larry and Andy Wachowski to come to him, its hard to imagine hed refuse to make another movie.

The Matrix, after all, has changed his destiny.